LAGOS TIMES

The other day, Mr. Sam Omatseye – a writer many used to have respect for due to some reasons, including the fluidity of his prose – wrote an article entitled "Obi-nomics". In the said article, clearly embittered by resentment, he hurled obloquies at Mr. Peter Obi. He saw Obi as a rising sun that must be totally eclipsed. I did a rejoinder to that piece as part of the respected "right to reply", which readers are supposed to enjoy. I appropriately sent the rejoinder to Mr. Sam Omatseye, who, contrary to the liberality of The Nation newspaper refused to present it for publication. Of course, I felt bad. Omatseye may not know that I have come a long way with The Nation Newspaper not to be denied such a right. In any case, I was privileged to have written the first letter to the Editor at the birth of The Nation (then Comet) Newspaper entitled "The Comet Cometh". Am I not qualified to be a stakeholder? A few months after that piece, Omatseye was at it again. O...

Some have called you foolish, dear Sam Omatseye. Others insist that you are plain stupid. There are those who hold you to be beneath contempt. Their howls of execration upon you are in reaction to your August 1, 2022 article entitled Obi-tuary ( https://thenationonlineng.net/obi-tuary/ ). For me, however, you are a dear friend. Our friendship started in the 1980s at Newswatch magazine where both of us practised journalism before you travelled to the United States for further studies. It continued upon your return and strengthened to the point that, sometimes, you get the producers of your TV Continental programme to connect me to field questions live. Besides, living in different states, we often chat by telephone. I demonstrated our amity again last May when I was in Nigeria's commercial capital for the Lagos International Book Fair. I phoned you and, within the hour, you were at my stand where we spent quality time reminiscing about the good old days and prognosticating on the fu...

Presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has revealed that he received documents from Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, to counter former president, Olusegun Obasanjo Sowore disclosed this in an interview with Arise TV while responding to the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, over Atiku's recent remark against him Atiku had on Wednesday, in response to the unveiling of the newly commercialized Nigerian National Petroleum Commission Limited (NNPC Limited), tweeted that he had in 2018 made public his plans to reform the NNPC, but the APC government denigrated his plan. Responding to the tweet, Sowore criticized the former vice president for complaining over the nation's blackout. Sowore wrote, "The national electrical grid collapse started when you and Obasanjo invested $16 billion to procure darkness for Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari regime ca...

An Ikeja Special Offences Court has ordered that a businessman, Solomon Idonije, be remanded in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged N20 million foreign exchange fraud. The EFCC charged Idonije with obtaining money under false pretences. Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo adjourned the case until July 13 for a hearing on the bail application. The EFCC had alleged that Idonije on December 21, 2020 in Lagos obtained the sum of N4.8million from Iyen Omowuiugbe for Forex Trade through Solomon Ace Forex Investments. The anti- graft agency also alleged that Idonije on December 23, 2020 in Lagos, obtained N4.1million from Omowuiugbe. Mr Ebuka Okongwu, who held the brief of the Prosecution Counsel, Mr Gabriel Akaogu, prayed the court for a trial date for the prosecution to resent its witnesses and evidence to prove the case against the defendant. Defence lawyer Jonathan Okagbero, however informed the court of an application for the bail for the defendant. The E...

The Peter Obi Support Network (PSON) has accused Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-rufai, of preventing a Northern meeting in support of Peter Obi, The followers of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate planned to use the popular Arewa House on Rabah Road. In a statement on Monday, the POSN lamented that they had fallen victims of power misuse. The spokesman, Sani Saeed Altukry said the venue's manager "called to notify that we cannot have Peter/Datti Northern Summit in Arewa House". Noting that the programme was scheduled for Tuesday, Altukry said no reason was given for the refusal. "The governor issued a directive cancelling the use of the venue after the group had paid for its use. "The decision is disheartening at the critical point when Northern Nigerians are desperate for development and liberation from poverty." Altukry added that "the Peoples Movement which Peter Obi represents" will not bow to "intimidation aimed at suppressing...

The Osun State governor-elect, Ademola Adeleke, on Monday praised President Muhammadu Buhari for aiding his victory in the state's governorship election. Adeleke won the Osun State governorship election held last Saturday, polling 403,371 votes to defeat the incumbent governor, Gboyega Oyetola, who recorded 375,027 votes in the election. The governor-elect, who featured in a Channels Television's programme, Politics Today, said the president's assent to Electoral Act 2022 made his success in the election possible. President Buhari, who signed the Electoral Act in February, had shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the outcome of the election, congratulated the governor-elect on his victory and reassured Nigerians of free and fair elections in 2023. The governor-elect said he was happy to hear from the president and highlighted the impact of the Electoral Act in his victory. Mr Adeleke said that the electoral law prevented desperate pol...

Incorporated as a public limited liability company on October 7, 1986, Ecobank Nigeria Plc is a key subsidiary of the independent banking group, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) headquartered in Lome, Togo, with operations in 36 countries across the African continent. The operations of Ecobank Nigeria are supervised and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as the National Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC). Ecobank Transnational's growth in assets, customer base, deposits and branches (especially in its Nigerian subsidiary) followed a string of dubious acquisitions of defunct Nigerian banks like All States Trust Bank Plc, Hallmark Bank Plc, African International Bank Plc (AIB) and Oceanic Bank International. In spite of the rapid but haphazard expansion of ETI's footprint in this country, Ecobank is by no means a Nigerian bank. The bank's holding company was established in 1985 under a private sector initiative spearheaded by the Federation of We...